Nous sommes en Bayeux aujourd'hui.

Today we bid adieu to St. Malo and drove to Bayeau in Normandy.  We are here for four days, and today we were going to do a walking tour of the town, see the cathedral, and generally get the lay of the land.  I was planning to leave the Bayeau tapestry until the day after tomorrow, but couldn't wait!  It was wonderful, and even though I have studied it before, it was a different experience seeing the real size and scope of the tapestry laid out in front of us.




We left the beautiful view from our hotel window in St. Malo this morning with regret, especially since the sun had just returned after two day's absence.  They don't call it the "Emerald Coast" for nothing!.  I still think the smartest thing we did this trip was to tell the Garmin not to take us down toll roads:  as a result, we get lots of quick trips on the motorways, then go around the toll highways on tiny little back roads and farm lanes, and we really feel that we are getting to see this land at first hand.

We are in Bayeux -- at Hotel Le Bayeux, in fact -- for the next four days.  Since we arrived before noon, we had most of today to explore the town and that was our plan. I have wanted to see the Bayeux Tapestry for so long that I didn't want to do it the first day and have it all over with.   We went to the tourist office, got the self-directed walking tour map, visited a few stops and the cathedral.

Since many businesses close from about twelve o'clock to about two or three, we decided to have lunch, and then I abruptly decided I was going to go see the Bayeux Tapestry today anyway.  I told Ian that if we need to we can go again, but what if the world ended tomorrow, and I was in Bayeau, and I didn't see the tapestry when I had the chance? 

Let me say that it didn't disappoint me.  I have seen every inch on computer screens, but it is an amazing piece of 1000 year old art.  With 12 colours, and no tradition of a third dimension, this tapestry manages to convey a story with clarity and emotion.  Its very existence is amazing.  The best guess is that it was made for Bishop Odo, WIlliam the Conquerer's half brother, and this flimsy piece of linen embroidered with wool has lasted longer and better than the chapel my sister Kathleen and I saw last year about a mile from our cottage near Gloucester.  The tapestry is astonishingly long, and was hung around three sides of the Bayeay Cathedral for about two weeks out of every year.  It takes a good half hour to walk along the tapestry with the audio-guide.

We had decided that since we had had a big lunch, we would just pick up a light snack for our room, but these plans died around 7 when the restaurants re-open.  Surprisingly, Ian is a bit tired of crepes, and we had another delicious rendition of beef cheeks.

Our hotel is VERY NOISY with teenaged groups from North America who have come for some history.  With a sheer curtain on our ground floor window and apparently no sound barrier provided by the door, I am going to listen to my headphones as I drift off.  The first song to pop up is "Teenage Wasteland" by The Who.